Ougon Musou Kyoku Cross got its first patch last night. The patch will upgrade the game to version 2.01 (from 2.00). You can download at the official site.

Big change is now you can use Black Battler in online match. (But it seems his HP is much lower now.) The release note lists some other changes but didn't mention about stun, so we did the stun test for you. Eva and George still have lowest stun resistance. Dlanor still has highest. There's also no significant change in damage scaling.

And while Capcom is using their SSF4AE Ver.2012 tournament to promote Street Fighter x Tekken, Mad Catz will also use the event to promote their new SFxTekken sticks.

Capcom already announced that Umehara, Mago, Tokido will compete in the tournament, and there will be playable SFxTekken in the event. The Team Mad Catz Japan will also play the game using the new sticks.

I don't know when, but I just noticed from the banner on the front page of Nico Nico Live that TOPANGA now has its own channel opened by Nico Nico's mother company itself. The contents on the page are all the pay-per-view episodes and the past TOPANGA Concept Matches that were streamed officially.

The channel is different from an user channel/community that TOPANGA already has. This premium channel has some privileges and will get more exposure. It can offer both free and paid contents. There're currently only 57 channels in game category and most of them was opened by game companies.

We know that TOPANGA League probably gets second season easily, but I also wish TOPANGA TV moves from Twitch TV to Nico especially now they have the channel. I think their teaching corner is great and more people should see it. They only need a better stream management and sound equipments.

Japanese fighting game communities try to appeal to the international audience by using Ustream or Twitch TV. But that's only good for a real big tournament. It doesn't work on talk shows or smaller tournaments. On Nico, not only more people will see it, more people understand it. (On Ustream or Twitch TV, many people who don't understand Japanese troll the chat instead.) Either way, matches will be seen, and a site like Beast Note will translate stuff for English speakers. They should think about getting new viewers who speak the same language to strengthen their communities first.

Nico Nico now has more than 22 million subscribers and 1.5 million paid members.

Nuki is Umehara's old friend and it seems like they didn't meet in a long while.

- Talking about olden days, Umehara joked that he thought Nuki's era is over when Nuki finished just 3rd place in a tournament. Because Nuki was so strong and always finished 1st place.
- They tried to find the right character for Nuki to play in SF4 Ver.2012.
- Nuki was interested in Sakura. (Nuki likes female characters.) Kazunoko made him interested a bit in Seth. Kokujin cheered on Seth, too.
- Umehara said Sakura gives Ryu more trouble than Seth.
- Umehara made fun of the fact that Nuki likes to talk about the olden days.
- Umehara mentioned that Dan is strong, mainly from shoryuken invincibility.
- Kokujin: Who's easy to play but strong? Ume: Adon.
- Umehara chose Ryu over Akuma because Akuma doesn't give him big advantage over Ryu.
- Umehara said Ryu's HP shoryuken is fun.
- Nuki is a renowned Umehara fanboy and he won't hesitate to say something awkward like "When I played SF4 slot machine, Umehara's face popped out." Viewers joked about platonic love/unfulfilled love as usual.
- Talking about the legendary parry at Evo: Ume said Raou liked to Super Art him, so it's like he practiced with Raou. Kokujin actually was there, too. He said it was so loud they couldn't hear anything else after the parry.
- Kokujin asked about how famous: Ume said sometimes he got a special treat from restaurants.
- In Zero 3 era, Nuki said there were 20,000 participants in national tournament.
- Umehara surprisingly knows a lot about smartphone version of SF4.
- Umehara playing the first Street Fighter, couldn't do shoryuken. KSK reported. [Pic]
- 4Gamer.net has a report about this event. [Link]

Summary
- The offer: He was happy with the offer. He likes Square Enix's games and they're his favorite game developer.
- His impression: The cabinets are big and flashy, that will attract people. And character designs and settings are a charm factor. Players don't need to be a game lover.
- Fun factor: The feeling "there's always something to do" it keeps you busy.
- He felt that gun action scares some people away but this game's cute character designs and world and such will make it easier to approach.
- Opinion on Gunglinger Stratos National Tournament (that has prize money): He'd be happy if prize money becomes a norm. But for him, he already likes new thing or new challenge, so it's interesting. If more game companies do this (prize money), pro gamers will increase. But it's also important to make a good game.
- Will he play Gunslinger Stratos?: He thinks so. His interest depends on number of people. And he thinks the game will certainly attract people. You don't want to miss that.
- His experience on large scale co-op game: Back in the past, he actually hated co-op games. (laugh)

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Notes
- All of Tokido's matches will finish today, because he has to attend a tournament in German. You'll see him again in the knockout stage in February.
- The realistic guess of the number of paid viewers this episode is at least 2,800.
- Commentators are R, Yoshiwo
- Capcom's Ayano (SF4 assistant producer) came to talk about SF4 National Tournament 2012 and SFxTekken.
- 10,400 attendees before start.
- The show ended with 46,214 attendees and 108,419 comments.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Notes
- I forgot to mention since yesterday that they updated the rules. Game difference (GD) is used to determine the rank in case 2+ players have the same number of wins. Losing too many games could mean more opponents in the knockout stage.
- R and Shiro are commentators.
- The show ended with 57,385 attendees and 107,689 comments.
- Realistic guess of the paid viewers in this episode is at least 3,300.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Notes
- Nico Tip: Nico lets you watch the show 2 times - live stream and recorded stream.
- Nico Tip: You can still buy the ticket even after the show ended until March 31. You have to watch it before April 7.
- The realistic guess for the paid viewers in this episode is at least 5,300+. (Judged from Timeshift and the first wave of viewers.)
- 14,631 attendees before the show started.
- They said although we'll see at least 330 games, it's possible to exceed 500 games the entire tournament.
- R and Shiro are the commentators.
- It seems that Fuudo is in the room, because we heard the button sounds.
- The show ended with 68,914 attendees and 142,273 comments.
- Before it started, this episode is the 2nd most anticipate show on Nico. (Timeshifted by 5,200+ users.)

The winner will be awarded 555,555 yen, this makes TOPANGA League the highest-paid fighting game tournament in Japan. Before this, the record holder was GODSGARDEN Online #2 with 500,000 yen prize money for the winner.

In Japan, collecting entry fees from players for the prize pot is illegal, as it will be treated as unauthorized gamble. Prize money must come from sponsors, not directly from the tournament organizer. Otherwise, the organizer must give away prize money without getting entry fees. And when big companies don't lend their hands, this's the deadlock which is half of the reasons why the scene grows very slowly.

There's no doubt that TOPANGA League's prize pot will come from the pay-per-view streaming. This's the move that could change Japan's fighting game scene as we know completely. The league has players that viewers want to see, and not only one match. Viewers' money goes to their favorite players' pocket. All players are guaranteed to be paid and/or be on stream for weeks on Japan's No.1 streaming site.

Nyanshi, TOPANGA organizer, mentioned that if the first TOPANGA League becomes a success, we could see "B League" (2nd tier league) in the second season.

Nico Nico will provide 12-episode smooth and high definition streaming and you'll see at least 330 games from these 12 players. However, it's pay-per-view. Five hundred yen per episode, or you can buy 12-episode package for 3,500 yen.

Details
- The first half (first 6 episodes) will be a round-robin league of online matches. First-to-Three match.
- The second half will be a knockout stage of offline matches. First-to-Six to win a set. (There's deuce when 5-5.) Two sets to win a match. Players from the lower ranks from the first half will have to fight the players above them to advance. (That means if you're 12th place, you need to win 11 straight matches to win the competition. While the 1st place only needs to win just one.)

Update 1: Nico has updated their pages with matchups details of the first half.
Update 2: Nico has updated the rules details on the round-robin stage - Game difference (GD) is used to determine the rank in case 2+ players have the same number of wins. Winning 3-0 means +3 GD. Losing 2-3 means -1 GD. Losing too many games could mean more opponents in the knockout stage. If the GDs are also the same, they'll count head-to-head result.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The magazine introduces Umehara as "the ingenious fighting game player" (as on the cover below) who is famous on Nico Nico. The article also has an interview with Gama no Abura, who plays important role in Denpa Jikkyou meme.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

As promised, a top OMK player J uploaded a video showing how to defeat Black Battler last night. Black Battler is the secret final boss in Ougon Musou Kyoku Cross. He breaks the game's rules by having 8 abilities and can activate them all before a round starts.

J mentioned that
- If you repeatedly poke while staying out of his medium attack or slide, he'll slide or use Blue Strike.
- Jump attack will be Guard Touch'd.

He also said that someone won by spamming Beatrice's Red Truth using Princess Mode.

After you beat the character, you'll unlock a Black Battler CG with staff comments.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

This's a video showing how to deal with Battler's "The Blue Truth That Pierces Through Everything" aka. Meta Blue Truth or "Battler Beam" by J, the top OMK player. It was uploaded last night.

Normally, you don't do raw Meta Blue Truth. Especially in OMK Cross, because you can just block and then Normal Touch to activate 2 abilities and you also gain some HP back. You can also press Appeal button or use Assault Touch. The best thing about Meta Blue Truth is it can be hitconfirmed, which you can do nothing about it.

It was hinted by Nyanshi the organizer on TOPANGA TV last night that there will be a charity cup again this year.

TOPANGA TV now moved from Saturday night 10 P.M. to Wednesday night 9 P.M. The first episode in the new time schedule was just last night.

The show has a training corner called TOPANGA Fight Club. It now has 3 new students - Negi (Ibuki), Suda (Ryu), Machabo (Fei Long). The latest episode had Negi appear on the show live for the first time as well.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Daigo Umehara made a surprising appearance in Square Enix's press conference today, or just a few minutes ago. The event was for the announcement of light-gun shooter arcade game Gunslinger Stratos. The event was also streamed on Nico Nico.

Umehara, as a pro gamer and special guest, came on the stage to promote the game and gaming in arcade game centers. He talked to the game producer Nobuki Kadoi and it was revealed that Umehara already tried the game back in November. According to the announcer, he is "official supporter" of the game.

Gunslinger Stratos is a 4 on 4 shooter where players can choose to dual wield their guns or merge their guns to create a new form of guns. The stages are all based on real locations in Japan, and they are fully destructible. Players can save and edit their characters. The cabinets are all linked so they can compete with everyone in Japan. It will be released this Summer.

At the same time, a national tournament for the game was also announced by Square Enix president Yoichi Wada. There will be prize money, something we do not often see in a game tournament organized by a game company in Japan.

Last year, Square Enix held a national tournament for Dissidia: Final Fantasy game. The event also had a stream. It would be very interesting if they decide to get serious about fighting game, because they sure know about marketing.

Update: Japanese news sites now have a full report of the event. There are pictures of Umehara standing next to Wada, producer Kadoi, and 3 voice actors Atsushi Abe (Kamijo from To Aru Majutsu no Index), Hisako Kanemoto (Ikamusume), Kana Ueda (Rin from Fate series).

If you look at the last combo, you'll understand why the game doesn't let you choose Black Battler in online match.

In the video description, J also mentioned that
- There're many combos that only work on certain characters in Cross.
- He did beat CPU Black Battler. (Hard mode, I assume.) He saw some patterns. He'll upload it later because the game was just released. It's too soon. He doesn't want to spoil the fun.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

I planned to write a review but I don't see myself writing it in the near future so I put everything here.

I've never played OMKX (Xbox 360). I always play the game in Hard mode. I don't use Princess Mode.

Changes
- The game version of OMKC is 2.0. (The original game was updated to 1.10)
- The default settings of a match is 2 life bars (yellow and red) and 2 rounds a game. The timer is 120. I prefer 3 bars with timer 180 (original format) because I think it's the right pace.
- I feel that there're changes in Damage Scaling but I can't prove it. Long combos get less damage reduction than version 1.10.
- I tested some simple combos and most of them do exactly the same damages as ver. 1.10. (See the old numbers in the older posts.)
- Virgilia does less damages. Her L>M>H>crH>MIS>Meta>Odin does 1862 instead of 2070.
- The AI of the old characters are a bit improved, but still too easy in Hard mode. Erika, Dlanor, Rosa are okay. I just hope some of them object or declare Metaworld more often.
- The Meta clock will continue in the next round.
- The new Down Attack doesn't break the game as I was worried. You can follow with an attack only for a second after a knockdown. You don't get an easy big juggle.
- Midair Guard can't block everything. It blocks normal attacks and some special attacks. This's a good news since it keeps this game rushdown-friendly.
- The SP consumption of the 2nd Meta Objection is reduced from 3 to 2.
- Some stages and moves are altered. (Battler's Meta Blue Truth graphics, etc.)
- I still can't tell the difference between Guard Touch and Guard Touch Forward. The graphics look the same. I only know that one or both of them gives you a big frame advantage not found in the old version.
- You still can escape a throw even when stunned in this version.
- Black Battler (normal version) recovers from dizzy faster.

Arcade mode (story mode)
- If you pick certain teams, it'll have deeper story and CG ending. There'll also be credit roll. Normal ending is just a picture of gold ingot, no system voice unlock, and it'll send you back to the title screen.

Record
This's a real nice feature. It keeps tracking many stats.
- Your fastest clear time in story of all characters.
- Character usages, in times and percentage.
- Your max combo of all characters.
- Your max damages of all characters.
- Your online records (characters, play, win, lose, draw, disconnect)
- Your RPs of all characters. (RP or Rating Point works like BP in SF4)

Picture mode
Any illustration in loading screen or event CG you unlocked in the game will be here. There're 521 of them.

Black Battler
I finished story mode on Hard difficulty without continue or losing a round. (I didn't change anything in Config, it's still 2 rounds a game.) After the ending CG, Black Battler came out. He has 8 abilities activated before the fight, during his Meta, and before the next round. His partner is himself in different color. The AI is also good. Apparently it's a joke last boss that you're not supposed to win. If you lose, there's no continue. I heard that even one of the finest OMK players couldn't beat him, too.

I tried to unlock him but it's not until I finished the story mode using Battler and Beatrice team. (no round lost, no continue) I didn't try Easy and Normal so I don't really know the conditions.

This video is for observation only. If you want to see high level gameplays, I suggest you find a streamer instead. There're 3-4 OMK players who stream his/her matches. Sentosu is good at SF4 but he doesn't take this game seriously. There's a large gap between him and top OMK players.